Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: To the Zhuge Clan
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It had been five days since I took down the Jade-Faced Yin Witch.
Over those past five days, the authorities in each of the Muhan Three Cities had officially announced her death, and the strict inspections that had disrupted merchant caravans finally came to an end.
The merchant groups, who had been tearing their hair out over the rigorous checkpoints, cheered in relief, and the young maidens who had lived in fear now ventured outside without worry.
And that meant Gong Ak-sa no longer needed our protection.
“ You don’t have to go so far out of your way to escort me….”
“ Don’t worry about it. It’s just force of habit.”
“ Force of habit?”
I was currently on my way to Gong Ak-sa’s home with her.
Once the Jade-Faced Yin Witch’s death was officially confirmed, Gong Ak-sa expressed her intention to return home, and I offered to see her there.
Meanwhile, having heard my response, Gong Ak-sa narrowed her eyes with a playful expression.
“ Force of habit? Just how many women have you escorted for that to become a habit?”
“ It’s less about the number and more about the etiquette training I got from my big sister starting at a young age.”
I had received etiquette lessons from my eldest sister at an age far younger than most.
And my brother played a big part in why that happened.
My brother was... well, blessed with the ladies, let’s say?
Even though both our father and mother were strict as steel when it came to that sort of thing, women just kept flocking to him.
Every time she saw it, my eldest sister would always lament the same thing.
-I trained him that much, and he still ends up like this!
I have no idea what kind of training she thought she’d given him despite their mere two-year age gap, but she insisted that was the case.
In any event, having tasted bitter failure in her training as she put it, my eldest sister was determined not to let me turn out like my brother and drilled etiquette into me almost to the level of brainwashing.
And through my eldest sister’s etiquette lessons, I came to realize the root cause of my brother’s lady luck.
“ ...May I ask what sort of etiquette training it was?”
“ Of course. It’s nothing special.”
Intrigued by the story, Gong Ak-sa asked for details on the training, and I gave her a few examples right away.
“ Don’t let a woman walk dark roads alone, offer your hand when she’s climbing or descending stairs or a carriage, and so on?”
“ ......”
Gong Ak-sa fell silent for a moment, at a loss for words, then continued with an awkward laugh.
“ ...I think I know why your brother has so many troubles with women.”
“ Right?”
It was an oddly progressive etiquette education that was ahead of its time, for better or worse.
The problem was that it was so forward it could make an unfamiliar woman mistake it for romantic interest.
Hearing all this, Gong Ak-sa let out a sly chuckle.
“ Now that you know, how about toning it down a bit, young hero? To be honest, even I’ve felt a little flutter of anticipation now and then.”
“ Pardon?”
I couldn’t hide my fluster at Gong Ak-sa’s sudden not-quite-confession.
Seeing me like that, she burst into laughter as if it were the funniest thing.
“ Puhaha…! Did you really think you were better than your brother?”
“ ...You just haven’t seen how my brother acts. He’s half-courting every woman he meets, young or old, I swear.”
I refuted the absurd accusation, but Gong Ak-sa fired back with a line straight out of a cheesy drama.
“ Ah, a damsel in peril, dragged off by a lecher threatening her chastity. A young hero witnesses it, his sense of justice boiling over as he drives off the villain and saves the maiden. The two, fatefully brought together, gaze into each other’s eyes with burning passion… Puh!”
Seeing my expression souring by the second, Gong Ak-sa finally burst out laughing.
“ ...You’re really enjoying this, huh.”
“ Thanks to you, yeah? Looking back, it really felt like one of Madam Mae’s tales come to life.”
And so, the escort home—made entertaining for one of us against my intentions—ended upon arriving at Gong Ak-sa’s place.
Once there, she finally stopped laughing, cleared her throat, and bowed deeply with genuine politeness.
“ Young hero, thank you so much. I’ll never forget how you saved my life.”
“ No, no need to go that far….”
“ And thank you for turning what could have been a nightmare memory into something worth reminiscing about. It was fun, if only for a moment, like a childhood fantasy come true.”
As she straightened up, a mischievous smile played on Gong Ak-sa’s face.
Seeing that, I flapped my mouth wordlessly for a bit before letting out a hearty laugh of my own.
Truth be told, I’d been worried deep down.
While wandering the city these past few days, I’d caught whispers that Gong Ye-ryeong of Heavenly Flower Tower had fallen victim to that lecherous fiend.
Even though I’d half-expected it, I couldn’t help wondering if Gong Ak-sa would truly be okay—and fortunately, it seemed she’d be fine.
She seemed far stronger than I’d given her credit for.
“ You’re leaving Muhan soon, right?”
“ Yes. Off to Yangyang in three days.”
“ That’s a shame. You came all the way to Muhan and barely got to sightsee.”
I shrugged at her regretful words.
“ Well, it’s not a one-time chance. I might come back someday.”
Once this journey to thwart Pae Cheon-seong’s schemes was over, I wanted to take a real trip just for wandering the jianghu.
I might even return to Muhan then.
At my words, Gong Ak-sa beamed.
“ When that day comes, make sure to stop by Heavenly Flower Tower. I’ll make you fall head over heels for Muhan’s finest musician.”
“ Sure thing. I will.”
And with that promise for the distant future, I nodded.
*
When I got back to the caravan after seeing Gong Ak-sa home, there was a visitor waiting for me.
“ Elder Yeon? You’re feeling better now?”
The visitor was none other than Elder Yeon.
Just yesterday, when I’d visited him in bed, he’d been unconscious—and now here he was, perfectly fine and come all the way to the caravan.
-HoroK
On top of that, he was calmly sitting there sipping tea.
I stared at him, a mix of shock and exasperation in my gaze, when Elder Yeon spoke up.
“ What’re you gawking at? You’d think I rose from the dead.”
His usual gruff tone.
His normal demeanor assured me he was truly okay, which secretly relieved me.
“ When did you wake up? How’s your body? Is it really okay to be moving around like this already?”
“ One question at a time, kid.”
I sat down across from Elder Yeon and bombarded him with questions.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance, then cleared his throat lightly before answering.
“ Came to this morning. Master Gok’s an expert in this field, so there wasn’t much left for me to recover from.”
“ Glad to hear it.”
I let out a small sigh of relief.
Truth be told, I couldn’t shake the guilt of capturing the Jade-Faced Yin Witch alive and putting Elder Yeon through that near-death ordeal.
Seeing me like that, Elder Yeon coughed awkwardly again, then plunked something down on the table.
“ Here.”
“ ...A bead?”
What Elder Yeon offered was a transparent bead.
Clear as pristine water without a speck of impurity.
Dazed by the strange sensation, I stared blankly until his voice pulled me back.
“ I heard you acted fast and saved my life. You saved mine, so it’s only fair I give you a spare life of your own.”
“ What is this thing that you’re calling a spare life?”
My question got a short, succinct answer.
“ Venom Extinguishing Pearl.”
“ Venom... Extinguishing Pearl?”
Not Poison Detecting Pearl?
Seeing my confusion, Elder Yeon continued explaining.
“ Unlike the Poison Detecting Pearl that just senses toxins, this is a bona fide protective charm crafted through sorcery. Carrying it purifies anything harmful to the body.”
“ Anything?”
“ Yeah. There’s no poison in this world it can’t neutralize. Not even the most infamous deadly ones.”
“ ...For real?”
He touted some incredible effects, but they sounded too good to be true.
Reading the doubt in my eyes, Elder Yeon snorted and pulled a small vial from his bosom.
“ See for yourself.”
The moment he uncorked the vial, a sharp wave of venom hit me, making me grimace involuntarily.
Seeing that, Elder Yeon smirked.
“ Feeling it already? Sharp senses, as expected.”
“ W-What’s that?”
“ Venom from a Twin-Headed White Serpent. One drop can kill a house-sized ox on the spot. Deadly stuff.”
Snake venom, of all things.
Having some bad memories with venomous snakes, I grimaced and leaned my head back as far as I could.
“ Now, watch closely.”
Ignoring my reaction, Elder Yeon unhesitatingly poured the venom right onto the Venom Extinguishing Pearl.
I’d freaked out at first, but soon my eyes went wide at the spectacle unfolding before me.
“ Whoa, whoa…!”
The snake venom seeped into the bead upon contact, turning it pitch black.
But that lasted only a moment—a whirlpool formed inside, and it turned transparent again.
Above all, the venom’s aura vanished without a trace, proving it had been purified.
Elder Yeon grinned as I leaned forward, peering intently at the bead.
“ Impressed? Pretty amazing, right?”
I could only nod silently to his boastful words.
What I’d just witnessed with my own eyes was undeniably extraordinary.
I carefully picked up the Venom Extinguishing Pearl and examined it from all angles, but not a whiff of venom remained.
“ With this, at least you won’t have to worry about dying from poison.”
“ Y-Yeah... It’s incredible, but are you sure it’s okay to just hand this over?”
It was only natural for me to think that.
Think about it.
An item that eliminates all poison worries just by carrying it.
If you offered it up to some high official—or even the emperor—you could probably make a fortune in gold.